Da Vinci Code, The

Inhoud

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller...utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.

Bespreking

Action-packed thriller, true to the hype

Robert Langdon, professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University in Cambridge, is on a business trip in Paris when he receives and urgent late-night phone call from the French police. It seems that Jacques Saunière, the curator of the Louvre, was found dead inside the museum. Because Robert had a dinner appointment with Jacques, he turns out to be the obvious suspect. Even more, when certain riddles at the crime scene and on the body of the diseased directly point to the American professor, there is only one way out for Robert: flee and try to prove his innocence. Luckily he gets help from an unexpected source: the gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu. Together they discover things that not everyone would like to become public domain. No matter what it takes, those force will stop at nothing to prevent Robert and Sophie to unveil the truth behind the Da Vinci code.

Not often is a book destined to be the cause of a hype that has had such an impact as the Da Vinci code. But is this necessarily a bad thing? There must be a reason why a book manages to appeal to such a big audience? That reason is actually not so hard to find in the case of Dan Brown's most popular book. Indeed, it is well-written, action-packed and covers a subject that is not spared of any controversy. It is quite impossible to stop reading, once you have read the first chapter and that is certainly a good asset for a thriller. Throughout the story the reader gets certain insights into the origins of Christianity, information that would normally not reach such a big audience. It certainly has increased the interest of the audience in Christian history significantly. Been to the Temple Church in London lately? If you have you definitely know what I mean.

Of course the book has its weaknesses. Not always is it easy to distinguish fact from fiction, but that should indeed trigger the reader to go and do some research themselves. The main characters of the book are indeed quite one-dimensional and do not trigger emotional involvement with many readers, but as long as the story manages to keep the momentum alive, who bothers. In conclusion, The Da Vinci code is an excellent read for on the train or on the beach, and that is often exactly what people want!